Basically, they said the current wording of the REDD program's consolidated text would be a giant subsidy for the logging industry. According to a spokesperson for Global Witness, "the REDD process is doing precisely what it was created not to do."

No Explicit Protection for Intact Forests or Forest PeoplesFurthermore, the Wilderness Society expressed dismay that there is no explicit wording to protect natural intact forests in the program. Rainforest Foundation Norway raised its voice for indigenous peoples, saying,

There's no wording assuring indigenous rights. Rather, the proposals here undermine all the battles of indigenous peoples for the respect of their rights and threaten all the right guaranteed to them under existing international agreements.

The prime issue is enforceability and the potential for abuse of the system in the form of fake carbon credits being issued, forged forest accounting (tracts of land that are logged being listed as intact, etc...), and desires of international organized crime to infiltrate it all.

The organized crime angle is raised by Interpol, a representative of which specialized in environmental crimes who is writing a report for the World Bank on illegal forestry saying,

Alarm bells are ringing. It is simply too big to monitor. The potential for criminality is vast and has not been taken into account by the people who set it up.

Organized crime syndicates are eyeing the nascent forest carbon market. I will report to the bank that REDD schemes are open to wide abuse.

Corrupt Politicians Already Dealing in Fake Carbon CreditsEven the UN itself has just admitted the potential for abuse, "Where countries are corrupt the potential for REDD corruption is dangerous. People have tried to take advantage of the market in an unacceptable way and the carbon cowboys are trying to get the benefits. We can expect more of this as REDD develops."

Those 'people' most recently refers to a Papua New Guinea's now-suspended climate change minister who is alleged to have given $100 million in fake carbon credits to communities in exchange for forest protection support.

But Nevertheless, We Must Find a Way to Protect ForestsAll of that said, forest protection is simply vital for both climate protection, preservation of biodiversity and, in my opinion, for that intangible but crucial rationale, because intact forests and intact ecosystems are important simply because of their intrinsic worth as a whole.

Ultimately, it may be an enforcement nightmare, but until we can change the hearts and minds of humanity to place intrinsic value of the forest, outside of a market transaction, we must develop programs which place an economic value on forests which encourage preservation over plantations, while respecting indigenous rights. And do so in a way that provides as few loopholes opening up abuse as possible.